


Connection

by 2nerd4this



Series: 'For My Soul" [4]
Category: Six - Marlow/Moss
Genre: An unexplored side of Cathy's sleep issues, Angst, Depression heavily implied, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Writer's Block, quarantine fic, wooh
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-15
Updated: 2020-05-15
Packaged: 2021-03-03 05:27:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,352
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24189643
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/2nerd4this/pseuds/2nerd4this
Summary: Catalina notices Cathy's unhealthy sleep habits, except this time it's different. This time- it might be worse
Relationships: Catherine of Aragon & Catherine Parr
Series: 'For My Soul" [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1935613
Comments: 4
Kudos: 70





	Connection

**Author's Note:**

> This is literally just ~1,000 unedited words of me projecting onto Cathy Parr. So... sorry. 
> 
> Not connected to my other Six series.
> 
> I specifically told myself I would never write a Quarantine fic, for various reasons, but... here we are.

It was a well known fact in the Queen’s home that Catherine Parr struggled to get a restful night’s sleep. Everyone had picked up on it early on, and after a few all-nighters that left her drained and uncharacteristically angry and/or inexplicably sad, the rest of the Queens had decided to step in and do something about it.

It was not uncommon for Cathy to end up in Catalina’s room, or for Kitty to end up in hers, feigning a nightmare to encourage the sixth Queen to rest. There was an unspoken agreement between the other five women that they would check on her every few nights, just to make sure she was in bed by midnight. 

This was why, after checking in on Cathy for the fourth time that week, to find her once more sound asleep, Catalina started to become concerned. Not because she was asleep, no, that would have been a relief in any other situation. Just, it was only eight o’clock. Every night the first Queen peeked into her goddaughter’s room earlier and earlier, and every time, she was already asleep. She wouldn’t fool herself into thinking this was a good thing. Oh no, this was a sign that something was very wrong. 

Catalina figured that it probably had something to do with the fact that they were entering their third month of the stay-at-home order, and there was no definitive end in sight. All of the Queens were reacting in different ways, Anne and Kitty had struggled in the beginning with restlessness, but had soon become tired of causing chaos and settled down. Unfortunately, they were starting to lose patience, and their antics were steadily increasing. Anna was becoming more and more social, talking for hours about things she hadn't shared before. Jane and Catalina were probably the most well-adjusted, as they both kept themselves busy caring for the others, but they were still struggling. Cathy, though, had obviously taken a turn for the worse.

After a few days of observation, Catalina noticed that the final Queen had two modes: sleeping and writing. Recently, she had been sleeping for almost twelve hours a day, and might very well be taking naps during the daytime. When she wasn’t sleeping, she could be heard typing away at her laptop. Jane would sometimes drag her down for meals, but more often than not, she would just leave some food for her outside the girl’s door. 

This was why Catalina found herself at her goddaughter’s room at six in the afternoon, hand hovering in front of the door, hesitating for just a moment. She was always anxious before she comforted someone. A lot of people perceive her as cold and unfeeling, and sometimes, their words cut a little too deep, and the first Queen convinced herself that she wasn’t as good as a ‘mom’ friend as Jane, as she needed to be. 

But this was Cathy. So Catalina took a deep breath and knocked on the door. She could do this.

“Hmm?” The tired voice of her goddaughter seeped through the door, if only barely. It was the same voice that she used when she was very obviously distracted by something. She was probably writing.

“Hey, it’s me. I was just... can we talk?” 

“What? Oh- I guess.” The sound of a chair scraping across the floor and a laptop closing, then the door opened to reveal Cathy, looking more rested than Catalina had ever seen her, but her eyes didn’t match the put-together aesthetic of the rest of her body. She looked almost empty, hopeless, and it scared the eldest Queen.

“Are you okay?” Cathy questioned in concern. Catalina felt a little guilty at her ploy, but the girl wouldn’t have opened the door if she had said ‘Hey, why are you sleeping so much?’. No, this was unfortunately necessary.

“May I come in?”

“Yeah, yeah of course.” Cathy stepped aside to let the taller woma nenter, and Catalina took a moment to take in the state of the room. The bed was made pristinely, her clothes were all hung up nicely in the closet, and the desk had obviously been organized very recently. It was all too perfect.

Catalina sat down on the couch, gesturing for Cathy to sit next to her. The sixth Queen sat criss-cross facing her godmother, concern lacing her expression. 

“What’s up?”

“Cathy, remember how Jane and I fought with you to get a healthy amount of sleep when we first came?” Catalina tried. She didn’t quite know how to go about this whole... thing. 

“Yeah? Is this about Kitty? Is she struggling again?” There was a point in time where Kitty refused to sleep, for reasons that Catalina preferred not to think about.

“Not exactly. Actually.." She hesitated. "Actually, I’m worried about you.” 

“What? But... I’ve been sleeping so much better.” Catalina shook her head.

“You’ve been sleeping *more*. That doesn’t mean better, we both know that. What’s up, Cath?” 

Catalina could tell by her expression that Cathy knew something was wrong. The Queen was self-aware enough to know that this change was not necessarily for the best. Still, she tried to play it off as nothing.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about Catalina.” 

“No, don’t try that with me” She admonished. “Come on, you’re a smart girl. What’s going on?”

Cathy crossed her arms like a petulant child and huffed. 

“I.. I don’t know, I don’t really understand it.”

“Do you want to talk about it?” Catalina asked patiently. Cathy considered it for a moment, then nodded. 

“I guess... I’m just so tired. Not like normal tired. Like... I am SO bored and restless and anxious all the time, but I’m not feeling any of that. I’m just- tired. So I sleep. Because there’s nothing else to do.”

Catalina just nodded in understanding. . 

“That makes sense.”

“Yeah? Cause it sure doesn’t to me.” Cathy laughed, a little self-deprecating. “I just... we’re just stuck here. And nothing I can do helps.” Catalina’s heart broke a little at her hopeless tone.

“What about your writing? That seemed to keep you busy and content, at least for the first month or so.”

“Yeah, it did. But now it’s all I have. I share drafts of each of my stories on this website-thing, and people can leave criticism and ideas, right?” Catalina nodded. She knew a little bit about this. “And at first it was so nice, having so much time. I cranked out almost a dozen chapters in the past two months and people loved it and I felt like I was doing something worthwhile, but all of the sudden I lost motivation. And it’s so upsetting because that’s it. All I can do is write.” 

Once Cathy started talking, she just kept speeding up. This was obviously something she needed to get out.

“And those strangers on the internet, they're the only proof I have that I actually exist. Which sounds ridiculous, I know, but I feel so... disconnected, and writing was my link to the outside world. But now, it almost feels like a chore. So now I don’t have anything productive to do and I feel so... useless. So I sleep.”

Cathy finished with a sigh. Silence filled the room for a moment before Catalina shifted and pulled her goddaughter into her arms.

“I’m sorry love. I wish there was some brilliant piece of advice I could give you to help, but there’s not. That’s just the reality of this situation. But, I can hold you. And maybe later we can ask the others, see if they have any ideas. Okay?’ Catalina felt a little useless too. All of Cathy’s points were valid, and oftentimes, it did feel like she was stuck. And the woman knew that the Queens were beyond lucky. They had each other, they had enough money to support themselves, and they were all healthy. That didn’t stop this whole situation from being downright miserable though. 

“ ‘Kay” Cathy snuggled farther into her godmother’s arms. Catalina smiled and smoothed her hair.

“I love you, Cathy.”

“Mhmm. Love you too.”


End file.
